Edition Announcement #135 - Christian Chaize

A my-breath-turns-to-icicles-as-I-speak hello to you on this seasonally frigid Thursday. (I know, I know. Minneapolis collectors are likely scoffing at my wussy East Coast cold threshold, but I just can't get used to this!) Grouchy as I may be about the temperatures, I have been secretly hoping that I'd be introducing today's editions on a day just like this one. Everyone needs fodder for sunny daydreams when the weather's like this, so I'm happy to offer up some inspiration.

Praia Piquinia 02/08/07 15h16 and Praia Piquinia 04/08/07 16h04 provide the perfect backdrop for your sun and sand fantasies. It's easy to see why Christian Chaize is, as he calls it himself, "slightly obsessed" with this idyllic beach in Portugal. I'm not one to bask in the sun myself, but I can easily imagine lounging beneath one of those festive umbrellas with a trashy novel for a languorous afternoon. In fact, I can see doing it for a few afternoons in a row, and am sorely in need of them right about now!

The visual appeal of these images should be inarguable to all but the crankiest of sun-and-surf haters (we all know a few). The landscape is inherently photogenic, and the umbrellas and sunbathers are most fetchingly arrayed across it. Collectors who came to us via the Domino (RIP) feature certainly agree — we got lots of anxiously enthusiastic emails from would-be collectors who saw Praia Piquinia 04/08/07 16h04 in the magazine and wondered why they couldn't find it on the site. Knowing we'd soon be releasing Chaize's pair of photographs, we secretly posted this one for intrepid sleuths and blog readers.

What makes today's introduction extra special is its pairing with Praia Piquinia 02/08/07 15h16. As you can surmise from their titles, these photographs were taken two days apart in August, from the same vantage point. The changes — subtle or obvious, natural or man made — revealed by the passage of time, are central to the work. Seen at different days and hours, the simple charm of the vista evolves into something richer — all the details unique to each moment are evidence of the transience of time and tide, creating a framework for human narrative, real or imagined. As each element is examined and identified, the daydream becomes clearer and the feeling of being there is that much closer.

It's this aspect of the work that sold me on it, and as Hey, Hot Shot! panelist Jenni Holder will attest, I was not an easy sell! She first showed me Christian's work in the Fall of 2007, when we rendezvous'd at Paris Photo. Jenni's an American expat living in Lyon with her picture perfect family, which is how she came to know Christian. She's also incredibly savvy about fine-art photography, having served as the director of a prestigious NY gallery for many years, so I knew going into our meeting that Christian was no slouch. Their aforementioned inarguable appeal was immediately evident, but I also couldn't help but compare them to the better-known (not to mention exponentially pricier) works of Massimo Vitali and Richard Misrach.

Jenni and I reunited again recently — and perhaps a bit less glamorously — over sushi in New York and once we got love, life and gossip out of the way, our conversation turned to photography. Meetings with other art dealers were what brought her here, and hearing of her conversations with my colleagues provoked an unexpected reaction in me. Was I... jealous? Yes, in fact, I was!

Suddenly it seemed absurd that I wasn't the one debuting Christian's work in New York. You should've seen the look on the patient Ms. Holder's face when I voiced this — a perfect mix of no-duh exasperation, and triumph. We bid each other adieu, and a few transatlantic instant messenger chats later — it's insane how much of my business life transpires over IM — everything was settled. With his editions announced, we're now turning our attentions to Christian's New York debut at Jen Bekman Gallery in May.

Ultimately, it all comes down to time and timing. (That "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone" foreshadowing may have had a bit to do with it as well.) I knew that I loved the work and that it would look amazing on the walls of the gallery, but that wasn't quite enough. I had to be able to articulate what was different about Christian's approach and it took a while to figure it out and put it into words. The scale and dazzle of Misrach and Vitali captivate me, and those qualities also provide an opportunity for Christian's counterpoint: His photographs are less about humanity and more about being human.

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